Page 100 of Cruel Kiss

28

CALI

Two days pass. Navi is holding. That's the word the doctors keep using, and boy, have I come to hate it.

Holding.Like a man dangling off the edge of something by his fingertips. Better than falling. Not the same as safe.

Ronan barely sleeps. He goes to the hospital in the mornings, sits with his cousin for the hour they allow, comes home, cooks whatever Isabella asks because he can't say no to her, and then stares at his phone like it's going to tell him something. He hasn't said much. Neither have I. There isn't much to say when you're both just waiting to find out if the last honest man either of you knows is going to make it.

I'm at the sink Thursday morning, up to my elbows in dish soap, when the doorbell rings.

Ronan is upstairs with the kids. "Who's there?" he calls down.

"I'll get it, don't worry!" I dry my hands and go to the door.

Through the frosted glass, I see the shape of a woman.

I open it, and there's Gia Mercer.

She's in a dark coat and her hair's down for once. She looks more exhausted than ever. I get the feeling the people in this house aren't the only ones having a bad week.

I don't fully trust her. But ever since the fake agents incident, something in her eyes seems a bit less adversarial than it was previously. Her showing up here like this is also interesting.

If her investigation is real, she has to know about Navi's accident by now. A shooting like that doesn't stay quiet. Which means she's either here because she wants something, or because she knows something.

"Agent Mercer," I say, keeping my voice flat. "It's a little early."

"I know," she says. "Can I come in?" She glances past me, up the stairs, toward the sound of the kids. "I need to speak with you. Privately."

Something in the way she saysprivatelymakes my stomach drop.

"The kids are home," I say. "My husband's here."

"I know. That's why I said privately." She continues to whisper. "Just you. Ten minutes. It's important, or I wouldn't come by like this."

I stand there a second too long. Then I call up the stairs, light as I can make it. "Ronan? Can you keep them up there for a bit? I've got a work thing."

There's a pause. Then: "Everything alright?"

"Yeah. Just work."

He doesn't believe me. But he doesn't come down. He says, "Alright," and then, to Isabella, "Come here, brave girl, let's see if Doctor Fuzz is ready to come out yet." I hear her feet run toward her room.

Satisfied, I close the door on the hallway and lead Mercer into the kitchen.

I don't offer her coffee or a seat. She stands on the other side of the island and crosses her arms.

"Todd Bradshaw is dead," she says.

The dish soap is still slick on my hands. I wipe them on my jeans without thinking about it. I must've misheard her, though. Because what I thought she just said is pretty strange.

"What?"

"Your ex-husband. He's dead. Found yesterday morning in a motel outside Harrisburg. He'd been there two nights." She watches my face while she says it. "I'm sorry. I know that's a hell of a bombshell to get dropped on you."

I grip the edge of the counter.

Todd.